Dilemma..Morehead State v. Grand Canyon U

I have a dilemma, I have been Accepted to both Morehead State and Grand Canyon University. I am leaning towards Morehead State because of AACSB accreditation. Yet I like the idea of 8 week terms at GCU(and the ability to start in July) I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight.

 

Morehead State

I live in Phoenix and have an MBA from MSU. I would go with Morehead State because of the AACSB.

 

MSU

I am very familiar with MSU as I worked at a nearby regional state university (Eastern Kentucky Univ.) and I would recommend MSU highly. I would be concerned about GCU given the recent upheaval and bad press about firing tenured faculty:

(excerpted from the May 27, 2005 Chronicle of Higher Education)

The professor was one of 17 faculty members -- five with tenure -- who were fired this month at the for-profit Christian university in Phoenix. The terminations came despite assurances from university officials that tenure would continue to be honored, even after Grand Canyon was turned from a nonprofit to a for-profit institution last year, according to several of the professors.


MSU will be around in its current form for a long time, and as prior posters said, has recently won AACSB accreditation. And it is Phil Simms' alma mater...

 

I do not have any experience with GCU, but I am a current student at MSU, and I highly recommend them. I have applied to and was accepted at a few grad programs, UMASS and U of Hawaii, and I may still transfer to U of Hawaii, it is full time evenings so I have to see if it is possible while serving on active duty, though it is not looking good lol, but I would like to network before I retire from the military in a few years.

As of now I am enrolled in fall classes with MSU, and will most likely continue my education with them--they are AACSB, and more importantly, they offer the courses I want to take. That is another aspect you need to look at--does GCU (or other Universities) offer the courses that you wish to take?

But as for your question--go MSU (no bias here, lol).

William

 

Ok I am almost convinced. My biggest concern about Morehead is on thier website "Proctored exams may be required in some courses. Faculty will provide this information in the syllabus and students not taking the proctored exam at a location identified in the syllabus must cooperate with faculty to identify a proctored examination location and method acceptable to the instructor."

Other than issue of trying to find a protoctor it most likely means time away from work.

Perhaps I was spoiled because most of my online undergrad courses allowed me to take the exams online at a convient time. It just seems like a big pain.

 

Proctoring

Often an institution will allow for a proctor such as a supervisor at work, librarian at a public library, etc. This allows for taking the exam at a more convenient time and place for the student.

You may want to check informally with the MSU program to get a sense if your preferred mode(s) of proctoring will work for most of the courses in which you'd be enrolled.

 

I can't promise anything, but for me... I never had a proctored exam in my MBA program.

 

Well then it looks like Morehead it will be..Thank all of you for your input. I really appreciate it.

 

Morehead State

Good luck with Morehead State. Get to know the MBA director Keith Moore. He is the point man for the program and makes problems go away as if by magic. Dr's Kizzier and Hunt in CIS are top-notch profs and people.

 

Re: Morehead State

Thanks for the advice..Although I am hoping for very little problems..it sounds VERY smart to get to know Keith Moore in any case.

 

Just an update, I had to go through the procedure of dropping my classes at GCU (they conveniently register you automatically for your first classes). I found their” Enrollment Counselor" (salesman) confrontational when I told him I wanted out. He did ask why and I told him that the school seemed a bit too much like UOP to me. He then asked what other programs I was looking at and I mentioned some that I had considered like CSUDH, Mississippi state, TAMU-Commerce and Morehead. He basically told me that "ALL leaders in online schools follow this model", he then mentions AIU and UOP". SO I then proceed to ask him what makes them leaders and he states enrollment (I guess for profit really is different).
Not to be out done I then mention Baker College (the second largest Purveyors of MBA's online). The conversation pretty much ended.

On another note I am excited to be starting at Morehead at the end of next month!

 

Well, congrats...I believe you will be happy at MSU. What courses are you going to take this fall?

William

 

Re: MSU

actually I understand the GCU layoffs.....profs in fields that they don't offer anymore at GCU and a school that was going broke. Something had to be fixed. Private schools are like businesses...no govt. to bail them out so they have to make tough business decisions. I applaud them.

 

Thank you , William. I am registered for
Managerial Communications,Managing Information Technology and Organizational Behavior.

Tim

 

I took the first two courses you are taking last term, and I will be taking organizational behavior this term, along with accounting and marketing. Maybe I will see you in class.

[email protected]

William

 

Re: Re: MSU

I would agree if (1) the layoffs were in fields that GCU weren't going to offer anymore -- they weren't -- the laid-off faculty cited in the article were business faculty, including a former dean of the business school, and (2) if the new administration hadn't gone out of its way to say tenure would be honored. If there were any chance that tenured faculty would be let go (as actually happened), why would they say the complete opposite beforehand?

I find the duplicity of this situation particularly disheartening for an evangelical Christian institution with the (ironic) slogan "The University with a Heart" that was taken over by ostensibly Christian businesspeople.

If you would like more detail, there is a series of articles on this situation at GCU in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

From what I can see it appears that GCU is trying to drastically increase their enrollments. They aspire to be more like UOP and alot of other high enrollment online schools by using mostly adjunct professors. This would eliminate some of the need for tenured faculty. There is feeling by some GCU students that they are much more interested with their online venture then their B&M school(e.g. http://www.gculeftbehind.blogspot.com/)

It sounds to me as though the new management was in fear of a mass exodus of facutly had they not continued to recognize tenure. If I was a tenured professor at GCU my first question would be what good is tenure if you are getting rid of faculty on a whim.

 

I hope to see you in class!

Tim